Do you know what indoor trampoline park that started in Las Vegas, and then spread to Mexico, Australia and Canada has finally come to Syracuse? Sky Zone, an international chain of indoor trampoline parks. When you are there, you can jump for hours, playing dodge ball, flipping into the foam pit or just jumping on the main trampolines.

The new Sky Zone opened next door to the Five Guys Burgers and Fries in DeWitt Town Center near the end of the summer, and has become a popular place for Jamesville-DeWitt High School students to work. According to senior Brady Wing, getting a job at Sky Zone was very easy at first but after they hired a lot of employees it became more difficult.

To be considered, you had to fill out an application and bring it back to Sky Zone. Then, they called you to set up an interview, which was with a group of applicants. “They asked you questions like what do you like to do, what are your hobbies and what your favorite holidays are,” said Dorazio.

The fact that Sky Zone is a trampoline park made people like junior Frederick Fitzgerald want to work there. “I wanted to work there because I like trampolines and I thought it would be fun,” he said. Sophomore Mary Dorazio also thought it would be fun to work with her friends. Other students that work there are senior Rebecca Fuller and Wing, who were also hired when it opened. At Sky Zone “you can be a cashier, you can be a court monitor, you can be a event host,” says senior Zach Gentile, who is a cashier. Other jobs include refereeing dodgeball, giving rule speeches and cleaning up after the guests.

Gentile, who has been working there since they opened, says that the application process was fairly easy. “Over the summer, when they were first opening, I walked into Sky Zone, grabbed an application form, filled it out, and then they interviewed me. Five minutes later, they hired me,” Says Gentile. Fitzgerald has also been working there since it opened. “It took me like four days [to get a job there]” Fitzgerald explains. Like any other job, in order to work at Sky Zone you have the proper qualifications. “Working at Sky Zone means you have to have certain personalities that can qualify you for the job,”says Dorazio. Some of the qualities you need are being good with kids, and knowing how positively interact with people, and knowing how to handle injuries.

What happens If somebody gets injured while jumping at Sky Zone? “There are three different levels of injuries,” explains Fitzgerald, “depending on what the injury is, we give out ice packs, fill out injury forms, and then if it is serious we have to call an ambulance.” Some injuries are so bad that they have to call the hospital right away. “When we first opened, one of the employees was jumping and landed and compressed his back so he couldn’t move, so he was paralyzed for a little bit, and that was a level three,” Gentile said. While only some workers are qualified to know some medical techniques and handle the injuries, there are some who don’t qualify. Gentile said he has seen people injuring their knees and have to go in wheelchairs. “I think last week we saw some dude (whose) shoulder popped out,” said Gentile. Freshman Stephanie Green’s cousin broke his arm while playing dodgeball and had to go to the hospital.

There are different shifts for the employees to work. On the weekends there is a morning shift from 9:45 a.m. to 5 p.m. or the night shift which is 5 p.m. to around midnight. On weekdays, according to Fitzgerald, up to 18 people work there at a time doing various jobs. “On a weekday I to work maybe four hours and on the weekends seven or eight,” says Fitzgerald. However, homework and sports also have a big impact on the hours that students work. Gentile has to miss 30 minutes of practice when he is working his 4p.m. to 8p.m. shift.

So what makes this job better than any other job in Syracuse? The employees at Sky Zone get discounts on the concessions and get to jump for free. “I can also bring one person for free and two additional people for 50 percent off,” said Wing.

Freshman Sarina Alexander has been to Sky Zone once, but explains that it was a fun experience. Her favorite activity to do there is dodgeball. “I like dodgeball because its fun throwing balls at people,” Alexander explains. It’s “a friendly game, obviously, I’m not going to pin somebody, but I definitely like to play dodgeball,” she said.